Aircraft, and in particular commercial aircraft, are often equipped with what is commonly known as a flight recorder (FR). A typical FR may include a cockpit voice recorder (CVR), a flight data recorder (FDR), or a combination of both. When activated, the CVR records and stores or otherwise captures the cockpit voices, sounds and/or audio information. This may include, but is not limited to, sounds and audio material or information occurring within the cockpit, the voices and/or conversations of cockpit personnel (e.g., the flight crew or the like), and/or the voices and/or conversations of other personnel in communication with the aircraft (e.g., the ground crew, air traffic controllers, other control tower personnel, etc.). Similarly, when activated, the FDR records and stores or otherwise captures flight data regarding the aircraft and/or its environment. Exemplary flight data includes, but is not limited to, the aircraft's: tail number (e.g., it may be assigned by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO)), position (i.e., latitude and longitude), altitude, attitude, trajectory, air speed, yaw, lift, decent or climb rate, acceleration, fuel level and/or consumption, flap and/or throttle positions, flight and/or other instrument readings, engine function data, cabin pressure, experienced weather conditions, etc.
The information acquired by the FR is often used to gain an understanding of or recreate the circumstances surrounding an undesirable event experienced by or on the aircraft, such as, collisions, crashes, hijackings or other calamities. For example, through analysis of the FR information it is often sought to determine the precise cause or origin of the undesirable event, be it aircraft failure, pilot error, security breach, bomb or otherwise, so that appropriate remedial actions may be taken to prevent the undesirable event from occurring again in the future.
While generally useful, FRs have some limitations. For example, the FR and/or the information captured thereby are typically stored in what is commonly known as a “black box” situated in the aircraft. The black box, while intended to be indestructible, can still be damaged, particularly in extreme environments and conditions as may be experienced in connection with explosions, aircraft collisions, crashes, etc. Further, the black box may become lost or otherwise irretrievable, e.g., in the case of a deep sea crash or a crash in a remote or inaccessible geographic location. Accordingly, whether the black box is damaged or irretrievable, the desired information stored therein may be either partially or wholly lost. This can be an undesirable result.
Additionally, even when the black box is recovered completely intact, the information therein can only be used in hindsight some time after the undesirable event has taken place. For example, in the case of an aircraft crashing in a remote geographic location, it may take considerable time to locate and recover the black box from its crash location, transport it to a location suitable to extract the information therefrom, extract the information, analyze the information, and recreate the circumstances of the event from the information. By the time the circumstances surrounding the undesirable event are recreated, a significant amount of time may have lapsed since the event occurred. Again, this can be an undesirable result. It is particularly objectionable when the consequents of the event itself or other undesirable events occurring shortly thereafter may have otherwise been avoided or alleviated had the information been earlier available. For example, real time or early availability of the information may be desirable in hijacking cases so that it may be used to remedy or diffuse the situation as it is occurring, or to avoid or alleviate the consequences of a second or subsequent hijacking closely coordinated in time with the first.
Certain constraints are imposed on the FR insomuch as it is situated aboard the aircraft and/or housed in the black box having limited physical dimensions. Due to these constraints or otherwise, often, FRs have a limited capacity for information storage, e.g., 30 minutes worth of information. Commonly, the FR remains active for the entire flight of the aircraft, with the information being recorded in a looped fashion so that the most current information is being stored while the oldest information is overwritten or erased to make room for newer information. Accordingly, only the last limited time period is saved on the FR, e.g., the last 30 minutes worth of information. Information occurring prior to this time period is unavailable. Again, this can be an undesirable result.
The present invention contemplates a new and improved method and/or system for use in conjunction with or in lieu of FRs which overcomes the above-referenced problems and others.